Servicing Equipment

Why hams troubleshoot and repair equipment

Sooner or later, it happens to every active ham -- something in your station breaks, sometimes rather spectacularly! An important part of amateur radio is the ability to troubleshoot and fix station equiment when needed. This skill is used to great effect under emergency conditions, when you can get systems up and running while the commercial services may take weeks to make a repair. Fixing equipment can be an effective way to learn about electronics. Over the years, ARRL authors have written a number of excellent articles about electronic troubleshooting that give the fundamentals and the fine points of equipment repair.

Articles

Some Basics For Equipment Servicing -- Part 1QST December 1981, pp. 11-14Costly repairs to amateur equipment can often be avoided if we do our own repair work. Knowing the nature of semiconductors is a vital means to that end.

Some Basics For Equipment Servicing -- Part 2QST January 1982, pp. 38-41Dc voltage measurements are fundamental to troubleshooting amateur equipment. We'll look at how to make these measurements and show you a "hi-Z" voltmeter you can build in a weekend.

Testing A Sideband TransmitterQST September 1965, pp. 14-18A primer of simple tests and adjustments.
(This article is for those servicing vintage transmitters from the mid ‘60s and ‘70s. -Ed.)

FT-101 Power Amplifier Valves from Ham Radio Today (RSGB) April 1998Beware of changing the 6JS6C power amplifier valves in the venerable old FT-101 (this applies to direct replacement without circuit modification)

Web Links

Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQThis site features a series of comprehensive repair guides for consumer electronics equipment and other household devices. There is also a great deal of other information of interest to the electronics hobbyist, experimenter, technician, and engineer.